Matthew 6:25-34 Faith for Anxiety

More than ever before people are suffering under the weight of fear and worry looking for some kind of answer to make them feel stable. Something to make them feel like their life is more than chaos.

Personally, I’ve struggled with anxiety almost as long as I can remember. As I child was terrified of dying.

I would go to bed at night scared and worried that tonight would be the night I would close my eyes and never wake up again. Or if I got into a car we would get in a wreck and I wouldn’t make it.

Even in my adult life I’ve struggled with anxiety. I’ve told my wife several times that one of the reasons I’m so excited about heaven is that in heaven there will not be anymore anxiety. In heaven, we will all finally be at peace once and for all with our Lord Jesus.

But even if you don’t struggle with daily intense anxiety, all of us feel anxious sometimes. All of us still have fears and worries that start to feel overwhelming at one point or another.

And so what do we do? We worry. We stress. Our anxiety strangles our minds and our hearts and it absolutely consumes us.

Its all we think about. It robs us of peace and life it replaces those things with fear and dread.

Well meaning friends and family come alongside of us and say, “Its ok. Its not that big of a deal. Don’t worry about it!”

But if your anything like me, when you’re feeling anxious all your thinking is, “How can I not worry about it? Don’t you see how big of a deal this is?! I have to worry about it! If I don’t how can I fix it?”

Well, this morning I want to tell you how you can not worry about it. I want to tell you God’s answer to our anxiety.

The answer to anxiety is not worry, it is faith in God.

Whether you are facing a difficult situation or whether anxiety is a daily struggle in your life, the answer is not to give into worry. The answer is to trust God.

But even that can sound trite can’t it? Have you ever been feeling anxious about something only to have some well meaning person say, “Listen! There’s nothing to worry about. Trust God with it. Have faith.”

That’s not all that helpful is it?

Its true. The reason we worry is because we don’t have faith, but the faith that guards our hearts from anxiety is not some generic, vague spiritual feeling.

Its a grounded faith. Its faith rooted in who God is and what he has promised his children.

So if you want to live a life that is free from worry, free from anxiety, the answer is not figuring out how to control or fix your circumstances. The answer is trusting in God who loves us and rules over our circumstances.

In Matthew 6:25-34 Jesus tells us not to worry. But when most Christians, especially ones struggling with anxiety, read this passage looking for something, anything to help, all they see is the command.

So they try with all their might to will themselves to stop feeling anxious. But it never works. But in this passage, Jesus says more than just don’t worry.

Praise Jesus the he is so kind and gracious to us. He is so sympathetic to our weaknesses he doesn’t just tell us not to worry. Instead, he actually gives us three truths about God that free us from anxiety.

Three truths that we must put our faith in, that we must trust, if we want to have freedom from the worry of an anxious life.

If you look at this passage, you’ll notice that three times Jesus commands “Therefore, do not be anxious.” And after each command he follows it up with a reason why.

A truth about God that when we believe it with faith, will help us to face any situation, no matter how scary or troubling or difficult with peace and confidence that God is with us and that God is for us and that he will lead us through.

Jesus will tell us, “Do not be anxious because...

First God is Our Treasure

Second, God is Our Good Father

And third, God is In Control of Tomorrow

Let’s begin with point number 1, God is Our Treasure.

I. God is Our Treasure

Matthew 6:25 Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?

That little word Therefore is the key to unlocking this entire verse.

As I said earlier, whenever they read this passage, most people only focus on Jesus’ command, “Do not be anxious about your life.”

And by only focusing on the command, they completely overlook everything that led up to and followed the command.

The Therefore tells us that the reason why Jesus is giving us this command flows from what he had just said. So look up to verse 19.

Matthew 6:19-12; 24 Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

What Jesus is saying is, do not live for the things of this world. Do not live your life for earthly rewards, earthly treasures that will never last.

Instead, live your life for heavenly rewards. The sole goal of your life should be to live a life that God will reward in the age to come because where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

If you’re treasure is hear, you love the world. If your treasure is in heaven, you love God.

Well how do you do that? How do you lay up for yourself treasures in heaven? Skip down to verse 24.

Matthew 6:24 No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

In context, Money is essentially the same thing as treasures on earth. It is the things of the world that distract us from God and his kingdom.

So when Jesus says you cannot serve God and money, He says you can’t live for both. You can either live for God and his Kingdom, or you can live for the things of this world.

And whichever one you choose, that will be the God you love. You will hate the other. You cannot serve two masters.

This is why John commands us Do not love the world or the things in the world (1 John 2:15), because if we live for the things of this world, we will despise God.

And here’s where our word, Therefore, comes in.

In verse 25Jesus says Therefore, because where your treasure is, there your heart will be also; because you cannot serve two masters without loving the one and hating the other, do not be anxious about your life.

What this means that Anxiety reveals what we are really living for. It reveals where our heart really is and who we really love.

If we are anxious about our life, that is our earthly life, about what we will eat or drink or what we will wear, then what we are saying is our treasure is here, and our master is the things of this world.

And its easy for us who live 10 minutes from the grocery store and have clothes in our closet that we haven’t even touched in a year, to miss the impact of what Jesus is really saying.

We can think, well I’m not anxious about those things. I’m anxious about other things. I’m anxious about my 401K. I’m anxious about my job. I’m anxious about my health and my family’s health.

But for the people first hearing this, what they would eat, what they would drink, and what they would wear would have been the greatest concerns of their life.

They would have been the most important things in the world to them.

They are the very things that we need to live.

We can’t live if we are starving to death or going about naked.

So what Jesus is saying is we shouldn’t be anxious about even the most fundamental needs of human life.

And if we shouldn’t be anxious about even the most basic things of life, the things that we need to live, then surely we shouldn’t be anxious about anything else, no matter how important we think it is.

Jesus says, don’t worry about those things. Don’t worry, even if you think its the most important thing in the world.

Now does that mean we don’t plan or think about what we are going through or about the future. The Proverbs talk about using wisdom and planning for what’s ahead.

What Jesus is forbidding is not thought or forethought about our life. Its anxious thought. Its the same word Jesus used for Martha who was “distracted” with much serving (Luke 10:40).

So he’s talking about consuming thoughts. Worried thoughts. Thoughts that distract us in our life.

And Jesus says even it its the most important thing in the world, even if its something fundamental to life itself, don’t worry.

And then he gives the reason why. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?

What Jesus is basically saying is Don’t be anxious because there is something more important in life than the things of this world.

And that is living for God. Laying up treasures in heaven. Serving God, not living for the world.

One of the reasons we might be worried, is because our hearts too attached to this world.

If you treasure the things of the world, you will despise God and live an anxious life because you are saying something in this world is better than him.

Whether that’s comfort, money, security, approval, whatever.

So we worry because all of our thoughts and all of our actions are geared towards trying to lay up those treasures on earth and we are afraid that it won’t happen.

That’s why we get anxious about not having enough money to buy that next house, about not making it through the next round of layoffs, or about our health or the health of our family.

We are putting our ultimate treasure, our ultimate hope, in this world instead of God. We are saying life is nothing more than my comfort, my joy, my peace, my security however I define the good life.

And listen, none of those things are bad in themselves. But whats dangerous is when those things become ultimate things. When we are living for those things. Serving those things.

When all of our hearts and our thoughts consumed with worry over them because we are treasuring them more than we treasure God.

We worry because we are wanting the fullness of life. We are wanting life as everything we wish it would be. But life is more than food, and drink, and clothes.

Life is not found in the things of this world. Life is not found in having all the health, wealth, and happiness you’ve ever wanted.

Life is only found in Jesus Christ and worshiping him.

That’s why he said that he came to die for our sins. He came to give us the fullness of life. True life. Eternal life.

A life that treasures God more than anything else in the world.

So when we feel anxious, the first thing we need to ask ourself is this: Am I living for God, or am I living for the world?

God wants your mind, heart, will, and life consumed with him and his glory. Not the things of this world.

Colossians 3:2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.

What is worry if not setting our mind on the things that are on the earth.

When we are focused on earthly treasures we have earthly affections. When we live for the things of the world, when we treasure them more than we treasure God, we don’t worship God. We despise him.

So at its core, anxiety, worry, is nothing more than false worship.

Anxiety says, There is something in my life that I want most, Something I want more than God, more than God’s Kingdom, and I’m worried that I’m not going to get it or that I’m going to lose it.

I’m worried I’m going to have to live without it, or if its some fear of suffering, that I’m going to have to live through it and lose my life as I define it.

Friends, If we didn’t treasure the things of this world the way that we do, we would not worry at the thought of losing them or not getting them.

May God purge us of our love for this world. May he cleanse us and give us hearts that are solely devoted to him, and him alone.

That instead of worrying about our treasure on earth, the sole focus of our life would become worshiping God for all that he is for us in Christ.

That means if you want to be free from worry and anxiety, then you must first have faith and believe that God is the greatest treasure of your entire life.

That he is altogether glorious and therefore altogether worthy of all of your heart’s love and affection.

We must settle it in our hearts and our minds that our lives are meant for something more than food and clothing. Something more than the things of this world. Our lives are meant for God and treasuring him above all else.

So if we are going to live a worry free life, we must repent of our love for the world.

Repent for not living wholeheartedly for God and his glory.

God is our greatest treasure. And when we have faith that God is the greatest treasure our hearts could ever hope for, the things of the world will grow strangely dim and lose their grip on our life, and anxiety will begin to die.

What do I want most? Do I want what I want? Do I want my life however I will it to be? Or do I want God and do I want his will for my life?

When we are feeling anxious, let us ask ourselves, Am I living for God? Or am I living for the things of this world? Is God my greatest treasure?

Point number two, if we want to be free from an anxious life, we must not only believe that God is our greatest treasure, we must also believe that...

II. God is a Good Father

The command Do not be anxious and the reason for it come in verse 31, but before that, Jesus lays the foundation for what he is about to say.

He gives us two illustrations from nature for how good of a Father God really is: 1. The birds of the air, and 2. The flowers of the field.

Matthew 6:26-27 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?

What Jesus is saying isn’t complicated. He says look at the birds.

They don’t worry about where their next meal is going to come from. They don’t even sow or reap or gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.

Later in Matthew 10:29 Jesus is talking about persecution and how we shouldn’t be afraid to die for our faith and he says something similar there.

Matthew 10:29-31 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30 But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.

Jesus says sparrows, birds of the air, are basically worthless.

Two of them are sold for a penny. And yet, God is such a good Father that not one of them dies outside of his care.

And Jesus says, because of that, because God is our good Father we don’t need to fear. If God cares for worthless sparrows how much more will he care for us, his heavenly children purchased with the blood of his own beloved son who died in our place on the cross?

So going back to our passage, Jesus asks are you not of more value than they?

If God cares enough about worthless sparrows to provide the food that they need, will he not also care about us? Will he not also provide for us what we need?

Then Jesus asks a second question. And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?

This is still connected to the idea that God provides our food. Basically, food is what sustains our life. It keeps us going. Every time we eat, it adds hours to our life.

And what Jesus is saying is you can’t eat your worry. What good does worrying get you? Worrying is not going to feed you. Its not going to sustain you. That’s God’s job!

Psalm 147:9 says God gives to the beasts their food and to the young ravens that cry.

By asking this, what Jesus is really saying is worry is nothing more than idolatry.

Worry is a functional savior we look to to save us from our anxiety.

When we worry we are trying to “solve” a pressing need in our life by relying on ourselves and trying to lead ourselves out of it.

Worry, anxiety, is just another way we try to build our life without God in it.

Its how we try to say, God we don’t need you anymore, we can take care of ourselves. Because ultimately God we don’t trust you. We don’t believe you are as good as you say you are. We don’t see you as a good Father. We see you as an absent Father.

Do you see why anxiety at its core is a faith issue?

Then Jesus gives his second illustration. He says...

Matthew 6:28-30 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

Similar to the birds, Jesus says the flowers of the field do nothing to adorn themselves. They don’t weave beautiful garments or put on nice outfits. And yet Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

This is an amazing statement because Solomon was the wealthiest man that ever lived. And when the queen of Sheba came to Solomon and saw his wealth and all of his wisdom, the Bible says it took her breath away.

She said what I was told about your wealth and your wisdom wasn’t even the half of it.

And here Jesus says, Solomon didn’t even come close to how richly God dresses the flowers of the field.

And then again, Jesus asks a question. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

Here’s the point. Wildflowers have a very short lifespan. They are here today and are gone tomorrow. Burned up to ash so that you could never tell they were once beautiful.

And if God will clothe flowers that are here one minute and gone the next with greater beauty than Solomon, why wouldn’t he provide what his heavenly children need?

O you of little faith. When we don’t trust God to provide for us. To take care of our lives, we show that we don’t actually trust God, we don’t actually have faith in his goodness.

So we might not only be anxious because we are loving the world too much, we might also be anxious about our life because we don’t functionally believe that God is a good Father who cares for us.

The argument Jesus is making from these illustrations goes like this.

If God gave you life and breath. And then if God adopted you as his son or daughter through Christ’s life, death, and resurrection, if God gave you the greater gift of life itself and then gave you eternal life in Christ to become your heavenly Father, will he also not give you the lesser gifts of sustaining your life and caring for you in every need?

That’s why Jesus continues.

Matthew 6:31-33 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

So again we have the command, Do not be anxious, and then in verse 32 Jesus gives us the reason why.

He says, For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.

The Gentiles are unbelievers, they are people that don’t have a relationship with God.

And Jesus says they seek after what they shall eat, what they shall drink, and what they shall wear. They seek after the thinks of this world.

Meaning being anxious is something that is characteristic of an unbeliever. Of someone that does not have a good heavenly Father. It is characteristic of a Christian.

Christians don’t have to be anxious because we know God cares for us, we know God loves us, we know God is with us because he showed us in in the greatest act of love of all time: sending his Son to die on the cross.

Its also interesting that Jesus draws a straight line between being anxious and seeking. That word in Greek can also be translated as to diligently look for, to desire, or to wish for.

You might say what you seek is what you live for.

And Jesus says we are not to seek, or live for, the cares and comforts of this world. But what does he say?

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Now is that a promise that if we live for the glory of God and his Kingdom that we are guaranteed to be fat, happy, and rich? No! Because our treasure is not on this earth.

We don’t live for the comforts and rewards of this world. We live for the comforts and rewards of heaven.

But it does mean that God will care for us. That he will provide for us what we need when we need it whether that is providing for our families, or having to go through what we think is an impossible situation.

And by drawing a line between being anxious and seeking after something, its like Jesus is using a play on words to say don’t be worried about the things of this world, be worried about the things of God!

Seek his kingdom first! Make God and living for him your number one priority. Worry yourself with that work. Not with having comfort and peace and security on earth.

So what does it mean to seek God’s Kingdom?

Well, God’s Kingdom is Jesus Christ ruling over his people in complete blessing and authority.

So seeking God’s Kingdom first means all of our life we seek after, we live for Christ to have his will in every single area of our life.

In our homes, marriages, families, morality, work, finances, relationships, lifestyle. All of it.

And that all of our life would be joyfully and freely submitted to Christ and Christ alone.

Seeking God’s Kingdom is really just living for and glorifying Christ for all that he is worth.

So let me ask you? If you looked at your life, what would you say is your first priority? What are you most anxious to have? Is it things of the world? Or is it God and his kingdom?

God is a good Father. Ephesians 1:3 says he has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing.

Forgiveness. Salvation. Adoption. Freedom from Sin. Eternal life!

And if our heavenly Father is willing to give us all of those things when we were dead in our sins, will he not also care for us in even in the most minute details of our life?

If you want to be free from anxiety, the answer is not worry, its faith.

First we need to have faith that God is our greatest treasure.

That the things of this world pale in comparison to him so that we will not love the world so much that we suffer anxiety at the prospect of losing it or not having it.

Second, we need to have faith that God is a good Father.

One of the reasons we don’t need to worry about our life, is because we know that God cares for us.

If God cares about worthless sparrows and flowers that are alive one day and burned up the next, how much more will he care for his heavenly children.

How much more will he care for you when he sent Christ to die for you? When Jesus shed his blood to forgive all your sin and give you the greatest need you ever had, eternal life?

And finally, Jesus gives us one other truth about God that answers every one of our anxious thoughts.

We don’t need to be anxious because...

III. God is In Control of Tomorrow

Matthew 6:34 Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Again you’ll notice the command, Don’t be anxious, and then the reason for it.

Here Jesus shifts the focus a little bit. Not only do we not need to be anxious about today and what we are facing right here right now, we also don’t need to be anxious about tomorrow.

We don’t need to worry about the future. Why? Jesus says for tomorrow will be anxious about itself. Meaning there’s nothing you can do to control what happens.

You can’t control the future. You don’t know what will happen or what won’t happen. So it doesn’t make much sense to worry about it.

Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. What Jesus is saying is take care of what’s right in front of you. In every situation, do the best you can to seek God’s kingdom and honor God.

That should be the sole focus of your life. How does Christ want me to live right here right now?

And then face tomorrow when it comes. It will be anxious about itself. It will have its own problems to deal with, and if you worry about them ahead of time, you’re really dealing with those problems twice.

We aren’t called to control our life, or to control the events of our life. We can’t. We are called to honor God and trust that he is in control of what we can’t control.

Isaiah 46:9-10 For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, 10 declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, “My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose.”

God is sovereign over everything. Over every single detail of your life. Ephesians 1 Says God works all things according to the counsel of his will. That means all.

Proverbs 16:33 says that even casting lots, something like throwing dice to make a random decision, is even decided by the Lord.

I think one of the greatest reasons that we feel anxious about our life is that we feel like our life is absolute chaos.

That we are walking on a tight rope and if we fall off on either side of it we will have to suffer a life of pain, loss, and hardship.

I’ll tell you that is my fear. I’m afraid that my life is going to be like Job. That I would lose everything. My family. Friends. All of it. And that I would be left to suffer.

That I will only know pain and misery the rest of my life. But even if that were to happen, would God still not be good?

I mean if he is in control of everything, and he is always good all of the time, do my circumstances change that?

Should we not say with Job Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil? (Job 2:10).

If God is always good, and if God is always in control, why would I worry about what evil might come into my life? Wouldn’t that even be God’s goodness towards me?

Here’s what I’m trying to help us to see, myself included. If what we are anxious about in the future, even if its our worst fear, only happens because of God’s sovereign providence, and if God is always good to us no matter what, how might that change the way we face our anxiety?

Instead of it being our worst fear, we can face our anxiety knowing God will redeem and use it to make us more like Christ and glorify himself.

Romans 8:28-30 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

This is one of the most comforting verses in all of Scripture. God promises, that no matter what comes our way, he will work it for good.

When Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers, God used to preserve his people. To preserve the line that Christ would come from to save the world.

God is powerful enough, and sovereign enough to use evil in our life for good. And what is that good? Being conformed to the image of his Son.

If our worst fears and anxieties about tomorrow do come true. If we lose a child. If we lose our spouse. If we lose our job and financial stability. Even if we lose our life for Christ, God guarantees to redeem it and work it for good.

He promises to use our lives, even the most difficult parts of our lives, to glorify the name of Christ.

And this guarantee is as sure as our salvation. That’s why Paul wrote, 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

When God called you, he gave you his promise to see you all the way through.

So when Jesus tells us not to worry about tomorrow he says that because whatever happens tomorrow will be used for our good by our good heavenly Father who controls everything under his sovereign will.

If we believe that God is in control. And he is steering all things towards our good. Then we don’t need to be anxious about the future.

We can be free to seek the Kingdom and let God work out the details.

Just like God’s goodness, God’s sovereignty frees us from an anxious life.

Live it out?

So if the answer to an anxious life is faith in God;

Faith that God is better than anything this world has to offer,

Faith that God is a good Father who will always care for us and provide what we need

and Faith that God is in control of all things, sovereignly working his will for our good

If the answer to an anxious life is faith like that, how do we live that out?

What do we do when the anxiety in our life feels so overwhelming that we just can’t help but worry? How do we actually live by faith?

Turn to Philippians 4

Philippians 4:5-7 The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7.

So Paul is doing something different than Jesus. Where Jesus said do not be anxious and then gave a reason for it, Paul says do not be anxious and tells us what to do instead.

He says in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

Take your anxiety to the Lord. Peter says cast your anxieties on him because he cares for you (1 Peter 5:6-8).

We take our burdens, we take our worries, and we bring them to the Lord and say, “God, these things are too heavy for me. Will you help me? Will you give me faith to trust when I want to worry?”

And we pray these things with thanksgiving! Isn’t that curious? Why does Paul tell us to pray with thanksgiving?

Because when we are thankful to God, when we come to him with our burdens and we thank him for what he’s done so far, it reminds us of God’s faithfulness.

And if we remember God’s faithfulness and we thank him for it, our hearts are encouraged with faith to keep trusting him, even with the things that burden us.

Praying to God about your worries is only half the battle. Yes, you need to take your burdens to him, but you also need to do so with thankfulness knowing that even if this doesn’t turn out the way you want it to, God will still use it for good.

And that’s something we can always thank God for.

But that’s not all. What does God promise if we bring our anxieties to him in prayer with thanksgiving? Verse 7...

And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

If we take our burdens to God, he promises to take them from us and give us peace in return.

That even when it doesn’t make sense we will have peace because we will have faith that God is good and that he is in control.

That our life is not chaos.

But what about when we pray, and it doesn’t feel like peace ever comes. Have you ever prayed to God but still felt like your anxiety was eating you alive?

What about those of us that struggle with daily anxiety? Anxiety that just never seems to go away no matter how hard we try not to worry, no matter how hard we try to trust in God, or think about something else.

Is God lying to us in Philippians 4? Is he not actually able to give us peace? No. He is always working good for you even in your anxiety.

2 Corinthians 12:7-10 So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

We don’t know what Paul’s thorn in the flesh was. I think God chose to leave it ambiguous because all of us will have struggles and sins that just never seem to go away. And they will always be different.

So what if God lets you struggle with anxiety to keep you from becoming conceited? To keep you from becoming proud and living only for yourself?

Have you ever felt weaker than when you were feeling anxious? Have you ever felt more dependent on God than when you didn’t even know how you could take another step if God didn’t help you?

If anxiety is a daily struggle in your life. One that you are constantly trying to repent of and have faith in what we’ve talked about today, then hear what your heavenly Father says to you.

My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.

God has not left you. God has not abandoned you. Through your anxiety he is keeping you near to him, dependent on his grace seeking first his kingdom, so that through you, through your weakness, he might display his power to save.

Conclusion

The answer to anxiety is not worry, its faith in God.

Anytime we are feeling anxious, it really boils down to three questions:

Is God my greatest treasure or am I living for the things of this world?

Is God a good Father who promises to care for me?

And Is God in control? Is God sovereign over every detail of my life.

Jesus said do not be anxious. We do not have to live as slaves to our fears and our worries if we believe that God is who he says he is.

If we live by faith and believe that God is our greatest treasure. That God is our good Father. And that God is in control.

Let’s Pray

Scripture Reading

Psalm 33:13-22

The Lord looks down from heaven;

he sees all the children of man;

14 from where he sits enthroned he looks out

on all the inhabitants of the earth,

15 he who fashions the hearts of them all

and observes all their deeds.

16 The king is not saved by his great army;

a warrior is not delivered by his great strength.

17 The war horse is a false hope for salvation,

and by its great might it cannot rescue.

18 Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him,

on those who hope in his steadfast love,

19 that he may deliver their soul from death

and keep them alive in famine.

20 Our soul waits for the Lord;

he is our help and our shield.

21 For our heart is glad in him,

because we trust in his holy name.

22 Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us,

even as we hope in you.

Psalm 94:17-19

If the Lord had not been my help,

my soul would soon have lived in the land of silence.

18 When I thought, “My foot slips,”

your steadfast love, O Lord, held me up.

19 When the cares of my heart are many,

your consolations cheer my soul.

Related Media

Related Sermons